Echo Zulu or Wicked Halo may skip Saturday's Dogwood

Winchell Thoroughbreds’ racing manager David Fiske reported Friday morning that “no decision has been made at this time” if stablemates Echo Zulu and Wicked Halo will both contest Saturday night’s Grade 3, $275,000 Dogwood Stakes at Churchill Downs.

Champion filly Echo Zulu was made the even-money morning line favorite in the Dogwood, which would be her first start since she was set to run in the $500,000 Acorn (G1) on the Belmont Stakes undercard but was a late scratch on the advice of the track veterinarian on the way to the starting gate.

Echo Zulu’s stablemate, multiple Grade 2-winner Wicked Halo, is the 7-2 second choice on the morning line odds. In her last start, Wicked Halo was able to hold off Sterling Silver in the $250,000 Prioress Stakes (G2) at Saratoga. Wicked Halo earned a 102 Brisnet Speed Rating, the highest of her nine-race career and highest last race figure of her other six competitors in the Dogwood.

“With her having success at seven-eighths, against 3-year-olds, it seems very obvious,” Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen said following the Prioress of Wicked Halo’s chances in the Dogwood.

Jockey Tyler Gaffalione was named on Wicked Halo in the Dogwood and drew post no. 7 while Ricardo Santana Jr. got the call on Echo Zulu from the rail.

The seven-furlong Dogwood Stakes is part of Saturday night's Downs After Dark program and is scheduled to go to post at 10:11 p.m. EDT. 

The Dogwood, named for the hardy blooming tree, comes six weeks in advance of the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint, which is scheduled for Nov. 5 at Keeneland. Champion Covfefe won both races in 2019.